Reading Curriculum

In Second Grade, reading instruction looks different from first grade, taking into account the greater independence of children. While children do continue to work on decoding skills, the year’s focus is really on developing more sophisticated comprehension skills. I combine small group guided reading with lots of individualized reading time. The goal is for children to become increasingly skilled and engaged readers who consistently monitor their own comprehension.

1. Teaching children to choose a Just-Right Book:Such a book is comfortable to read, and provides only a slight challenge in decoding the words on the page. I often use the Five Finger Rule: if there are more than five words on a page that a child finds too hard to read accurately, the book is too challenging to read independently. Just-Right Books help build:

Stamina in independent reading. Being able to settle down with a book and read on one’s own for an extended period of time.

Fluency – it is essential that children be able to automatically decode nearly all the words when they read independently. This frees up enough attention to focus on meaning.Reinforcing the strategies they learned in first grade for decoding unknown words (context, pictorial and phonics strategies)

Ability to chunk or parse words into appropriate phrases. A major part of comprehension is understanding the phrase, not just the individual words. Until a reader can “chunk” a text appropriately, finding meaning in that text will remain challenging.

2. Expanding their repertoire of comprehension strategies, such as:

Using prior knowledge to help you connect to the text and make meaning. This also involves discerning when it is and isn’t helpful to bring prior knowledge to bear

Reading with a purpose – adjusting your reading according to the genre and its demands

Visualizing as you read – letting your mental movie help you know whether your comprehension is on track.

Inferring – recognizing when important information is implied rather than explicitly stated (one of the hardest things to do as a reader).

Determining Importance in a Text – It is important to see the wood and not just the trees – Learning to identify and use the main idea to help you make sense of a text

Summarizing and Synthesizing – reading to get the “gist” of a text is a highly important skill

While we want each child to read texts that support their personal interests, we also want to make sure they’re reading from a variety of genres. Many children find a niche of books they enjoy – such as a series - and therefore can sometimes need guidance to explore types of texts outside their comfort zone.